Saving Face (Mount Faith Series: Book 1) (8 page)

"So he's the one? The young candidate?" Miranda looked at Taj appreciatively. "You are a very good looking young man."

Taj felt Natasha squeezing his arm and cleared his throat, "Mr. Carter, Mrs. Carlisle, this is my partner for the evening Miss Natasha Rowe…a student here."

Miranda looked at Natasha and smiled. "Nice to meet you. What area of study are you pursuing?"

"Forensic Psychology," Natasha said smiling back. "I want to be a detective in the police force."

D.M. Carter raised his eyebrows. "You are very definite with your ambitions." He shook his head. "I heard that the police force is corrupt beyond redemption. Why would anyone want to go into that?"

Natasha shrugged. "Someone has to do it and not everybody is corrupt. There are still decent people left in the police force who just want to do their jobs to the best of their ability."

Miranda gasped. "It is so heartening to see somebody passionate about their future aspirations. I say pursue your dreams Natasha. It can have its rewards."

Natasha ceased her sympathy like a lifeline and offered some of her own. "Thank you Mrs. Carlisle. And I must say I am sorry to hear about your husband's death."

"Did you know him personally?" Miranda asked sharply.

"No." Natasha was taken aback by the sharpness of her tone.

"Oh." Miranda relaxed. "Well, then I accept your condolences."

Carter chuckled. "Edward was a complex man. We are all saddened by his loss."

His eyes were saying that he wasn't though–Natasha was taken aback by his response. She had naively expected that since the president's ball was arranged for the president who just died that there would be some sort of remorse, but nobody she met thus far on the school compound seemed to be bothered by the man's death. And here at his ball, there wasn't even the hint of sadness.

There was just a general apathy where he was concerned. Even his widow seemed long past grieving. Natasha concluded that she must have known about his extra marital activities. They definitely needed to interview her.

"Death is a part of life Natasha," Miranda said philosophically. "Here today, gone tomorrow." She batted her long, mascara heavy eyelashes.

"But Dr. Carlisle's death was so sudden and unexpected," Natasha insisted, trying to get a deeper reaction from her.

Miranda nodded absently and then waved to someone in the distance. "It was nice meeting you." She nodded to Natasha and then turned to Taj.

"If you are chosen by the board of trustees to lead this place. Lead with God…consult him in all your dealings…live above board with all men."

She then hugged him and moved away.

Taj and Natasha stared after her, bemused.

D.M. pushed his hand in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "She is a strong lady."

"Where's Anne?" Natasha asked, "I don't see her anywhere."

"Oh she's sick with a slight cold," D.M. said, his eyes skittering away. "Besides, she doesn't usually come to the president's ball."

He cleared his throat. "And here is Bancroft with the long suffering Celeste."

Ryan Bancroft was standing at the door, his hand resting on his wife's back
.
Celeste was a head shorter than him, but she looked taller in her picture
s
Natasha thought. Her skin was fair, and she had a round shape; her thick black hair was cut in a bell style. She looked elegant and pretty and seemed to be completely at ease with herself.

"So that's the wife of Dr. Bancroft," Natasha said low in her throat. "She's warm and pretty. Looks like she bakes cookies and gives boo-boo kisses."

Taj looked at Natasha. "Why do you sound so bitter," he said leaning near her ear. "Are you jealous of Bancroft's wife for some reason?"

"No," Natasha sighed, "just envious. You know some days you fantasize about being a well-preserved housewife to a powerful president of a college.

Taj laughed softly. "You would be bored to tears in a minute being a housewife, but if you want me to, I can beat out that guy for the presidency and then you'd be the president's wife."

Natasha pinched him and then glanced at D.M Carter who had tuned them out and was staring in Bancroft's direction with a scowl.

"Don't you like him?" Natasha asked Carter interestedly.

Carter laughed bitterly. "I think he's an arrogant waste of space. Not only do I dislike him I really, really detest him."

"Why?" Natasha asked, her investigative senses kicking into gear.

D.M. was about to snarl something and then he looked at both her and Taj and murmured, "this is not the time for that. But I tell you the truth, Edward Carlisle might have had his faults but this guy is the pits."

He saluted them and strolled off.

Taj exhaled and glanced at Natasha who had a thoughtful look on her face. "One thing for sure, D. M. Carter is not a suspect in this murder."

"But maybe Bancroft is," Taj said looking in Bancroft's direction again. "Look at him, he loves the whole atmosphere. In his mind he is already the president and I doubt anybody or anything can come in his way."

Natasha admired Bancroft's erect bearing; the proud angle of his head. He was talking to a group of people and they all stood enthralled. "I don't know. Let’s go over and say hello."

Taj reluctantly walked up to Bancroft who was laughing and talking with Anita Parkinson.

"Oh looky here," he said when Taj approached, "it's my other able competitor Taj Jackson."

"Honey," he turned to his wife, "meet Taj Jackson."

Celeste smiled at Taj and took his proffered hand warmly. "You look so familiar." She said her smoothly modulated voice resonated with surprise. "If I didn't know better I would say you are a Bancroft."

Taj shrugged. "I have been hearing that a lot since I came to this school."

Bancroft looked at Taj assessingly. "I see it too."

His eyes skittered away and he looked at Natasha. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your date Dr. Jackson? It's a shame to keep a beautiful woman hidden."

Taj performed the necessary introductions and they chit chatted for a while. Anita Parkinson excused herself, a visiting politician commandeered Bancroft, and Taj and Natasha were left with a curious Celeste.

She kept staring at Taj and shaking her head. "This is uncanny. I know the saying is that everybody has a double in this world, but I just can't shake the eerie feeling that you look like my husband."

Taj smiled politely.

"And you are his competition for the presidency?"

"Yes ma’am," Taj said solemnly, "poor competition, as your husband keeps pointing out."

"He does?" Celeste asked appalled, "that's not nice. Is Ryan playing unfair?"

Taj looked in her lovely face and wondered if she thought that this was a game. "I think he is at his ruthless best." Taj replied diplomatically.

Celeste shook her head. "Don't let his bark fool you. One time, a long time ago, Ryan was idealistic and gentle. I think under the hard core that you see now is that man."

"You do know that you are giving the competition valuable advice." Taj pointed out to her gleefully.

Celeste smiled. "But of course, I don't necessarily want him to get the presidency. I barely see him as it is, can you imagine when he does get this huge responsibility. Besides, the last president died of a heart attack. I don't want my husband to go the same way."

Natasha had stood there silently, listening. Celeste seemed genuinely concerned about her husband's well being.

"Anyway, don't listen to a foolish wife speaking," she said. She stared intensely at Taj again, shaking her head. "I must invite you to dinner. You strongly resemble my second son Adrian. What's the word for it? You are his doppelganger."

Once more Taj felt uneasy with the Bancroft comparison and he looked at Natasha uncomfortably.

Natasha was busy bopping her head to the orchestra's rendition of ‘Wake Up Everybody’ by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Indeed the instrumental was very infectious and he wondered if he should pinch her hand as she had commanded him to do.

Celeste squeezed his arm and turned to somebody else who had been standing behind her for a while.

"Did you get all of that Detective?" he said close to her ear.

Natasha jumped. "What?"

Taj shook his head, "you really love the oldies don't you?"

"I love music in general," Natasha said quickly, "even new ones."

Taj beamed. "I used to be very up to date on my music trivia. Even med school couldn't quench my trivia love."

Natasha grinned, and they moved away toward the dance floor. "I can't dance in these shoes so this has to be a rock."

They moved together for a while and then went in search of refreshments. A waiter offered them drinks and then they went outside on the balcony where chairs were scattered along the breadth of it. People were sitting in groups, laughing, and chatting.

Natasha sat down thankfully and looked around at the moon lamps. "This is a really nice party. I wonder who planned it."

Taj sat beside her. "A committee of several persons. Funds are set aside for it in the yearly school budget."

Natasha looked at him, surprised. "You are studying for your post, man!"

Taj shrugged. "My father has always emphasized the need to be prepared, and I think I'm belatedly trying to catch up. However, I must tell you I am used to competition. I was on my school's track team. I even came first one year in the 200 meters at Champs. That kind of discipline has a tendency to stay with you, you know. Man, it was hard work. I hated every minute of training the last year but I did it. Eventually chose medicine instead though."

Natasha looked at him thoughtfully. "Sounds as though you are thinking of doing the same here."

Taj shrugged. "I just don't know." He looked at her softly. "You look really pretty."

Natasha blushed. "Thank you. You look really pretty too."

"My ego," Taj said smiling. "Men are not pretty."

Natasha shook her head. "I don't know, maybe you are the exception. There is a beauty about you though, Dr. Jackson."

Taj moved closer to her. "So I am back to being Dr. Jackson? Are you subconsciously telling yourself that you have to keep me at a distance?"

Natasha moved away from him, her heart beating heavily. How did they move from a serious safe conversation to attraction in less than a second? She couldn't handle this kind of thing.

Taj leaned into her and kissed her on her surprised slightly opened lips.

"Now this is a great party." He eased back from her and then smiled. "Want to go back and do some more investigating?"

Natasha nodded slowly. Her lips were tingling and she felt a thrilling rush all over her body.

Chapter Eleven

The week after the ball Taj was seriously considering his options. He would have to give up the undergraduate class immediately, and would have to hire a new assistant. He smiled ruefully, as he headed to his office. Natasha was so taken up in her case she was barely going to classes or even pretending to be working on anything other than her investigation. She and Harry had been sporadically using his office as a base.

He glanced at Anne Carter's empty desk and let himself into his office. He was not surprised to find Natasha ensconced in his chair surfing through her computer and printing papers. She looked up at him with her weary eyes. "I am so tired Taj."

Taj came into his office and sat down across from her.

"Why?" he asked concerned. Her usually bright brown eyes were looking blood shot and she had the beginnings of dark circles under her eyes.

"This case is going nowhere," Natasha said slapping her hand on her forehead. "I am missing something. Something vital."

She snapped her fingers. "Explain something to me."

Taj crossed his legs. "Go on."

"Explain to me, how can somebody induce a heart attack in someone without it being detected? I mean, not even the coroner was too sure if it was a heart attack. I can see why people would want to kill the man; I just don't understand the how. Talk to me like you would a really slow person who is not really versed in medical terms."

"Well," Taj steepled his fingers, "how did he die?"

"From a heart attack," Natasha said. "By all intents and purposes it looked natural but the coroner says that there was a heightened level of potassium in his blood. Way too high, so his exact statement was that 'he had hyperkalamia at the time of his death.'"

Taj frowned. "Did he have any pre-existing conditions?"

"Yes," Natasha snapped her fingers gazing at Taj as if she wanted to drag the information out of his head. "He had high blood pressure, but it was under control, said his uncle, who is my boss."

"I have heard of cases where elevated potassium deposits in the body causes the heart to beat too fast, the medical term is tachycardia. This leads to a type of cardiac arrest which is known as ventricular fibrillation…just one of the many types of cardiac arrests."

Natasha sighed. "Maybe Harry and I have been going about this the wrong way. Who would be knowledgeable enough to know the effects, and inject him with enough potassium to kill him?"

"Where was he found?" Taj asked curiously.

"In his office at ten in the morning, by Anne Carter," Natasha said matter-of-factly. "She had come in late that morning."

She blew in the air and rocked in Taj's chair. "Anne is a nice fisherman's daughter working as a secretary, what would she know about potassium causing heart attacks."

Taj smirked. "The Internet. Did he have any mail that day? Had any appointments?"

Natasha shook her head. "No appointments except with his golf buddy D.M. Carter at eleven. You know that job is a cushy job—the presidency."

She shook her head. "He had no remarkable mails that day except..." she went to the computer and looked over his personal mail, "from kellove. ' I will love you forever.'"

She smirked. "They had been getting hot and heavy for days leading up to his death. That mail went along the same vain."

Taj looked at her, tilting his head sideways. "Don't you find it interesting that D.M. Carter had an appointment with him at eleven and Anne Carter found him dead at ten."

Natasha nodded. "But what's the motive?"

Taj shrugged. "You have a tough task ahead of you. I don't grudge you one bit. I can recall feeling extremely frustrated over crossword puzzles if I couldn't figure them out instantly. I shudder to think how I would be as a detective."

There was a knock on the door and Anne Carter pushed her head in. "Sorry to be so late Dr. Jackson."

She had a harried look on her face. "I had to rush my husband to the hospital this morning. I found him collapsed on the front porch after his morning run."

Taj looked at her alarmed. "Shouldn't you be with him now then, Anne?"

Anne nodded. "Yes, I should. He is stable now so I am just here to finish up some urgent business and then I am taking off for the rest of the day."

"I am sorry to hear Anne." Natasha said sympathetically.

Anne looked at Natasha, unconcealed fear in her eyes. "Thank you Natasha."

"Where is he hospitalized?" Taj asked before Anne moved away.

"Over at Mount Faith Private Center," Anne said. "That's where most of the university staff go when they are ill. It is a small teaching hospital."

She left the office and Natasha looked at Taj shaking her head. "Something is not right."

Taj frowned. "Maybe I should visit the Private Center and see what can be done."

Natasha stood up and placed a hand on his arm. "Taj."

"Mmm," Taj looked down at her hand and then in her eyes. She moved back a bit her heart rate accelerating.

"I need to know if Carter is being poisoned too. I want him as an alive victim not a dead one. How can you help us?"

"I could run some tests," Taj said, "check for potassium and any other substance in his blood. If they are masked, it could take us a while to detect."

Natasha called Harry who had managed to get a student worker position in the president's building.

"I am not going to speculate," she said to Harry, "but I think we have a problem that's linked to our original case."

***

Natasha and Harry spent most of the day trying to find out who would have access to large quantities of potassium. They made an appointment with Doctor Fiddy, head of the Chemistry Department for two o'clock.

He was in his office, a scowl on his features when he looked up at them both.

"What is this about?" he asked harshly. He had a heavy Guyanese accent and looked as if he had been having a rough day. He had four cups of coffee on his desk, all of them empty.

Natasha looked at Harry and cringed. "We are working on a project for Forensic Intelligence class."

Natasha crossed her fingers and hoped that they had a class like that.

"We have a case study where a man was declared dead—excess potassium was found in his blood at the time of death. He also had blood pressure problems. We thought you would be able to help us since you are a professional in your field."

Fiddy nodded. Apparently, he liked the case because he didn't question them further on the imaginary course.

He pulled his four-inch beard and looked at them with a squint. "What do you want to know?"

"We want to know how much potassium it would take to kill a man, and how can potassium be masked so that not even the coroners are sure that the man was actually killed?"

"Okay," Dr. Fiddy said, "it is simple, since you are dealing with potassium. A combination of potassium and chloride is present in many prescription drugs, even ones for blood pressure."

He rocked back in his chair. "Why aren't you taking notes?"

Harry hurriedly dragged his notebook from his bag and started scribbling. Natasha had hers poised on her lap but hadn't started writing.

Fiddy nodded. "Yes. Well, potassium chloride breaks down into its individual components, potassium, and chlorine. The chlorine (Cl) binds with the human body's naturally occurring sodium (Na) to create NaCl—sodium chloride. And you know what sodium chloride is don't you?"

"Er..." Natasha searched her mind, sodium chloride sounded familiar.

"Table salt," Fiddy grunted impatiently, "common table salt."

"Too much salt causes increase of blood pressure." Harry said.

Fiddy nodded. "And every science student worth their salt," He chuckled at his witticism, "would know that the coroner or even a doctor would not identify Potassium Chloride as the cause of the resultant heart attack because it would show in the body as a slightly elevated level of NaCl. Both are naturally occurring in the human body. The presence of either or both of these will not raise the suspicion of either the attending physician or the coroner."

Natasha nodded. "So how much potassium would that take?"

"Potassium chloride," Fiddy corrected her.

"Potassium chloride," Natasha repeated dutifully.

"About 9 grams." Fiddy leaned over his desk and stared at the two of them hardly, "and since Edward Carlisle was about 200 pounds that would do him in."

He leaned back and watched as both Harry and Natasha gawped at him.

"Yes, I am a friend of Greyson, your superintendent, who already pitched the theory at me. We are drinking buddies but I have gone teetotal so we don't drink as much together now."

Natasha mumbled. "So much for top secret."

Fiddy chuckled. "How on earth do you think you two could get into this school without contacts here?"

"So how could somebody get potassium chloride?" Natasha asked not wanting to go off topic just yet.

"You can find it in your shops," Fiddy said warming up. "Some people use it in their food instead of sodium chloride, though it has a bitter taste. You can find it in blood pressure medications; it is used for the treatment of hyperkalemia."

"But he died from hyperkalemia." Natasha said frowning.

"That's the thing about potassium chloride, toxic doses can cause hyperkalemia." He paused. "It is used as one of the ingredients in lethal injections."

Harry stopped scribbling and looked up. "So how would it be given to him?"

"Injection," Fiddy said sarcastically. "Somebody injected him with a healthy dose of it. It is easy to make in liquid form and easy to find the ingredient. Even my first year chemistry students can do it." He shrugged. "I told Greyson and I am telling you. It has to be someone who is close to him and really wants him dead to have done this. As far as I am concerned Edwards was an okay president. I would look closer to his home life if I were you."

Natasha nodded, "do you know anything about his... er... personal life?"

Fiddy shrugged. "No, he was a passionate advocate about good family life. Whenever he is doing one of his lectures or his frequent speeches on family and his wife was nearby she would look extremely uncomfortable. Like she wanted to shout, liar. I always look at the wife when a man waxes lyrical about his home life, the honest wives will always give you an indication with their facial expressions if what their husband is saying is true. Of course, I told your boss this, but he refuses to believe that there was anything wrong at home. Good luck to you and your searching. He looked at the clock. I have a meeting in three minutes."

Natasha and Harry got up. "Thank you Dr. Fiddy."

Fiddy waved them off. "No problem." Then he chuckled. "By the way, there is no course at this university called forensic intelligence."

Natasha laughed politely and she and Harry left the office more confused than ever.

***

"I should call Taj," Natasha said to Harry. "I had asked him to check out D.M. Carter to find out if he is poisoned." They were heading toward their regular place in the lounge, behind a potted palm.

Harry shrugged. "If it is potassium chloride he'd be dead by now. You heard Doctor Fiddy…they use this thing in lethal injections."

Natasha still punched in Taj's numbers and waited patiently for him to answer.

He answered on the fourth ring. "Natasha," he said softly, "Dr. Carter is in a coma."

"A coma?" Natasha asked. "How? What is the cause of it?

"His attending doctor is checking out the potassium angle. He'll be back shortly with results. They have a very efficient lab here."

Natasha hung up from Taj, an adrenalin rush going to her head. "Harry someone is trying to kill D.M. Carter, I am sure of it."

Harry stopped. "Maybe you should go over to the medical center and see what is going on. Hold Anne Carter's hand. Question the daylights out of her."

"What about being undercover?" Natasha asked.

Harry shook his head. "Tread softly with this one but blow the cover if you have to."

Natasha nodded.

"And don't sit too near her." Harry said suspiciously. "I am not sure I trust Anne Carter she could stick you with a needle full of potassium."

Natasha shuddered "What are you going to do?"

Harry stiffened. "I am going to find out where Ryan Bancroft was all of today and if he had an appointment with D.M Carter."

"Okay." Natasha moved off and headed toward her car, which was in the parking lot for the students of the sciences. The Mount Faith Private Hospital was several miles down the road from the main campus. To walk would take her too long.

She walked past several students and wondered what they were thinking. She marveled at how clueless they were that a murderer was among them, probably even one of them. She reminded herself at this point that she had no clue who it was.

She drove toward the hospital and was grateful to find a parking space right beside Taj's car. She walked rapidly toward the entrance to the hospital and on to the second floor waiting room. There she saw Taj and a sobbing Anne Carter. Taj had his hand across her shoulders and she was crying her heart out.